Michael Crow: If DACA is eliminated, ASU will find a way for in-state tuition

ASU president: The Constitution requires Arizona State University to remain “open to all the children of the state.” We take that seriously.

Jesus Cisneros, an ASU graduate student and member of the Latino Graduate Student Alliance, holds a sign as he leads the solidarity walk across the Tempe campus, Tuesday, in support of in-state tuition for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrvivals) students. The solidarity walk participants were asking that the Arizona Board of Regents grant in-state tuition for the so called "dreamers".(Photo: Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle/The Republic)

I want to emphasize that Arizona State University’s commitment to DACA students and to all "dreamers" remains unchanged. It is based on the core principle set forth in ASU’s charter that we are “measured not by whom we exclude, but rather by whom we include and how they succeed.”

This commitment, particularly as it applies to immigrants, honors the vision of Arizona’s founders.

They “believed that an educated citizenry was extraordinarily important to the new state” because “they had witnessed the most intense immigration in the history of America” and “were keenly aware that education was responsible for preserving America's unity while wave after wave of peoples arrived from other countries. As the heated debates about education as a requirement for voting show, the conventioneers believed that a free society could not exist without educated participants.”

The Arizona Constitution requires that our public school system “shall be open to all the children of the state.” (Article XX, paragraph 7; emphasis added) It is an obligation that ASU takes seriously. And, particularly when it comes to immigrants, it is one that I take personally.

My commitment, and ASU’s, to dreamers has not been limited to lobbying for passage of the DREAM Act. Working with community leaders, we raised millions of dollars to ensure that the ASU students impacted by the passage of Proposition 300 would have the funds needed to complete their education.

ASU reaffirms its historic commitment to dreamers generally and to DACA students in particular. We do so as a matter of our state mandate, our charter and our values.

How do we move forward? 4 actions:

ASU’s actions going forward will be based on this commitment and on the following additional principles specific to the questions that have been asked regarding the status of DACA students:

1. The legal status of DACA students has not changed. While there has been much speculation, the Arizona Board of Regents’ position that DACA students are eligible for in-state tuition at all three Arizona public universities remains unchanged. There will be no change unless and until the federal DACA program is changed or the court of appeals reverses the lower court decision that was the basis for the board’s conclusion that DACA status satisfies the requirements of its residency policy.

2. We recognize that DACA students are nevertheless anxious and concerned. Therefore, ASU will make counseling services available to them on a confidential basis.

3. If DACA is eliminated, we will rise to the challenge. ASU is a convening force in the community for good and for change. If students lose the status that makes them eligible for in-state tuition, ASU will engage the community to seek financial support for the continued study of students at ASU who graduated from Arizona high schools and who are qualified to attend the state universities — regardless of their immigration status.

We have begun discussions with our DACA scholarship partner, TheDream.US, about using the private dollars they raise to secure scholarships for dreamers who have lost their DACA status, should that occur. Even before in-state tuition became a reality, we partnered with TheDream.US on a scholarship program that they established for DACA students enrolled in our online degree programs, and we would hope that will continue. ASU will also provide financial counseling services.

4. In the days ahead, we will continue to work at every level to maintain the great learning environment that ASU has created. Dialogue is essential and we will communicate at multiple levels with various communities and constituencies about the importance of inclusivity in all that we do.

ASU will continue to advance the economic competitiveness of our state through the education of all qualified students: The future of Arizona's economic competitiveness requires that an educated workforce. As our founders recognized, it is essential to our democracy.

Dr. Michael M. Crow is the president of Arizona State University. The open letter was originally posted on Nov. 23. Email him at president@asu.edu; follow on Twitter, @michaelcrow.